I was incorrect in my earlier tweets and statements that a USL PRO affiliate could not be matched with its partner MLS club. I’m a busy guy and sometimes you just have to admit you’re not perfect, sorry!

The only affiliate relationship that needed to be separated for this draw was that of the LA Galaxy and LA Galaxy II who are both owned by the same party.

USL PRO side Orlando City and their PDL side Orlando City U-23s, are both in the tournament but could not be matched up at this stage as MLS teams must be matched with a lower league pairing.

Chivas USA was the only MLS club to not apply to host a Fourth Round Open Cup match.

With those done, I will underscore that the most important principle to keep in mind for how pairings are determined comes from Page 7 of the 2014 U.S. Open Cup Handbook. It states:

“After each Third Round pairing has been determined, each Division I (MLS) team entering in the Fourth Round will be matched geographically to play the winner of a specific Third Round pairing. Instances where a logical geographic fit doesn’t exist will be resolved by random selection."

As all business as a selfie can be prior to walking into Soccer House...

Upon arrival to Soccer House, Competition Secretary Paul Marstaller handed me a sheet of paper with four geographic groupings, plus a wild card pool. The most straightforward grouping was the top table which featured eight Third Round matchups across from eight MLS teams that made “a logical geographic fit” with those lower league pairings.

The pairings with the result of the coin flip are below. Teams that are not bolded either did not have a suitable home venue or didn’t apply to host (U.S. Soccer did not distinguish the reason on this sheet).

FLIP

HEADS

FLIP

TAILS

X

Brooklyn Italians SC (NPSL)/New York Cosmos (NASL)

New York Red Bulls (MLS)

Dayton Dutch Lions (USLP)/Indy Eleven (NASL)

X

Columbus Crew (MLS)

RWB Adria (USASA)/Pittsburgh Riverhounds (USLP)

X

Chicago Fire (MLS)

Minnesota United FC (NASL)/Des Moines Menace (USASA

X

Sporting Kansas City (MLS)

Laredo Heat (PDL)/Ft. Lauderdale Strikers (NASL)

X

Houston Dynamo (MLS)

NTX Rayados (USASA)/San Antonio Scorpions (NASL)

X

FC Dallas (MLS)

X

Arizona United SC (USLP)/Oklahoma City Energy FC (USLP)

LA Galaxy (MLS)

Fresno Fuego (PDL)/Sacramento Republic (USLP)

X

San Jose Earthquakes (MLS)

For the local Fire fans, I was able to take OFFICIAL VIDEO documenting the Fire's winning coin flip:

The second grouping of matchups pooled three Northeast MLS sides with three lower league pairings. Of note here, Marstaller said that because the Harrisburg City Islanders and Baltimore Bohemians are about equidistant to D.C. United and Philadelphia Union, a flip off between the two sides would be done to determine which club would host the winner of that Third Round Matchup.

Based on alphabet, D.C. United was assigned heads and Philadelphia tails, with the Union winning. Because neither Harrisburg or Baltimore applied to host, no flip was necessary as hosting rights defaulted to the Union.

LOWER-LEAGUE MATCHUP

MLS TEAMS

FLIP ASSIGNMENT

Harrisburg City Islanders (USLP)/Baltimore Bohemians (PDL)

D.C. United
Philadelphia Union

Heads

Tails

United's loss on their first flip resulted in them moving down to the next pairing of two lower league matchups where a similar flip had to occur between New York Greek American Atlas/Richmond Kickers and Reading United AC/Rochester Rhinos to determind who would be D.C.'s opponent.

Again, determined by alphabet, the New York/Richmond matchup was assigned heads while the other was assigned tails and the coin again flipped to tails matching D.C. United with Reading/Rochester.

This moved New York/Richmond down to a matchup with the New England Revolution and then flips were done to determine the hosting rights for those two matchups with both lower league matchups winning with heads. For the purpose of clarity, here is how that final grouping looked:

FLIP

HEADS

FLIP

TAILS

Harrisburg City Islanders (USLP)/Baltimore Bohemians (PDL)

N/A

Philadelphia Union

X

Reading United AC (PDL)/Rochester Rhinos (USLP)

D.C. United

X

New York Greek American Atlas (USASA)/Richmond Kickers (USLP)

New England Revolution

The third grouping was a product of Chivas USA being the only MLS club not to apply for hosting rights. Because of this, Marstaller needed to pair them with lower league matchups in which both clubs applied to host, of which there were two: Atlanta Silverbacks/Chattanooga FC (heads) and Charlotte Eagles/Carolina Railhawks (tails).

A coin flip was done to see who would host Chivas and landed tails giving Charlotte/Carolina the hosting rights. This pushed Atlanta/Chattanooga down to the very ending “Wild Card Pool”.

The fourth pool featured the PSA Elite/LA Galaxy II matchup paired against four MLS teams that were within geographical proximity. While both lower-league teams are based in Southern California, because PSA Elite also did not apply to host, Chivas USA could not be thrown into this group.

The most interesting part of the process Friday was the flip-off between four MLS clubs to determine who would play Galaxy II/PSA Elite.

Again determined by alphabet, Colorado/Portland and Real Salt Lake/Seattle Sounders did a preliminary flip. Both losers in that round (Portland & Real Salt Lake) were moved into the final Wild Card pairing, then Colorado and Seattle did a final flip, with Seattle winning again (which should keep Sigi Schmid somewhat happy) and Colorado also falling to the Wild Card group.

LOWER-LEAGUE MATCHUP

MLS TEAMS

PSA Elite (USASA)/LA Galaxy II (USLP)

Colorado Rapids
Portland Timbers

Heads
Tails

Heads

Real Salt Lake
Seattle Sounders

HeadsTails

Tails

One final flip was done to determine the hosting rights for that match with Galaxy II/PSA Elite winning and presumably, since PSA Elite did not apply to host, Sigi will be their biggest fan.

FLIP

HEADS

FLIP

TAILS

X

PSA Elite (USASA)/LA Galaxy II (USLP)

Seattle Sounders

After all the flips above were done, the Wild Card pool looked like the below table, with MLS clubs placed on the right according to alphabetical order. Because of the odd number of matchups, coin flips could not be used to determine who would play each other so Marstaller placed three slips of paper marked “A”, “B” and “C” into plain envelopes. As the matchup moved down from the initial Chivas USA grouping, Atlanta/Chattanooga was assigned “C” while the other two lower-league pairings were assigned “A” and “B” based on alphabetic order.

Marstaller then went down the alphabetic list of MLS sides and drew the slips of paper from the envelopes. When all three matchups had been finalized, final flips for hosting rights occurred, concluding the fourth round Open Cup draw. You can see how the envelopes were drawn and the winner of the flips below:

FLIP

HEADS

FLIP

TAILS

Tampa Bay Rowdies (NASL)/Orlando City (USLP)

X

Colorado Rapids

X

Orlando City U23s (PDL)/Charleston Battery (USLP)

Portland Timbers

X

Atlanta Silverbacks (NASL)/Chattanooga FC (NPSL)

Real Salt Lake

Following the draw, Marstaller said the published fourth round scenarios would not be accompanied Friday by match dates yet. This is because the Fourth Round has three possible match dates over an eight-day span. With USL PRO and the PDL, along with amateur sides having league games between the June 10-18 Fourth Round window, all clubs that have the potential to host a Fourth Round match will have the weekend to give their preferred hosting date before U.S. Soccer balances the already scheduled league games. Because of the logistical process, hosting dates are expected to be announced sometime next week.

A comprehensive list of who won hosting coin flips can be found below.

FLIP

HEADS

FLIP

TAILS

X

Brooklyn Italians SC (NPSL)/New York Cosmos (NASL)

New York Red Bulls (MLS)

Dayton Dutch Lions (USLP)/Indy Eleven (NASL)

X

Columbus Crew (MLS)

RWB Adria (USASA)/Pittsburgh Riverhounds (USLP)

X

Chicago Fire (MLS)

Minnesota United FC (NASL)/Des Moines Menace (USASA

X

Sporting Kansas City (MLS)

Laredo Heat (PDL)/Ft. Lauderdale Strikers (NASL)

X

Houston Dynamo (MLS)

NTX Rayados (USASA)/San Antonio Scorpions (NASL)

X

FC Dallas (MLS)

X

Arizona United SC (USLP)/Oklahoma City Energy FC (USLP)

LA Galaxy (MLS)

Fresno Fuego (PDL)/Sacramento Republic (USLP)

X

San Jose Earthquakes (MLS)

Harrisburg City Islanders (USLP)/Baltimore Bohemians (PDL)

N/A

Philadelphia Union

X

Reading United AC (PDL)/Rochester Rhinos (USLP)

D.C. United

X

New York Greek American Atlas (USASA)/Richmond Kickers (USLP)

New England Revolution

N/A

Charlotte Eagles (USLP)/Carolina RailHawks (NASL)

Chivas USA

X

PSA Elite (USASA)/LA Galaxy II (USLP)

Seattle Sounders

Tampa Bay Rowdies (NASL)/Orlando City (USLP)

X

Colorado Rapids

X

Orlando City U23s (PDL)/Charleston Battery (USLP)

Portland Timbers

X

Atlanta Silverbacks (NASL)/Chattanooga FC (NPSL)

Real Salt Lake

Thanks again to the U.S. Soccer staff for being great hosts once again!

“No, cause they weren’t. The first half was good, the second half we were totally out played. Very naïve from us. At some point you have to figure it out on the field. I can’t do much from where I am at except make changes in certain things, the lineup, and get other players in, but you got to stand up and be counted.”

On how frustrated he feels

“I feel terrible because I thought tactically we had it figured out. We did great in the first half, but the game is 90 minutes. You got to punish them with another goal, but I said at half time ‘they are going to come at you because they’re good.’ I don’t think we really wanted to win that game because we didn’t show it. If we wanted to, we would have put our head through the ball, and be good at that stuff. We had a total collapse in a game we should have won.”

On if the team broke down from Real Salt Lake’s pressure

“They’re a good side. They could have scored a couple first half [goals].The whole game is in ebbs and flows, we had some chances, took them, they had a couple, and Sean made two great saves. We’ve played eight games, we’ve not won yet. We got to go to a tough place next game, and we got to get a result.”

On keeping morale high without getting wins

“We will find out next week. We’ve not had that happen to us collapsing like that in the second half. Take nothing away from them but we should see that game out, 2-1, even 2-2, but not 3-2. I got to figure out who is going to be punching and fighting the whole season, the whole 90 minutes.”

On if there will be some changes for next week

“It’s a bit early for that, but I would think so.”

On if there was too much respect for Real Salt Lake

“They play a certain style of game. It’s a possession game. We just kept going backwards and not stepping into people. We tended to drop and have low pressure, but that doesn’t mean no pressure. You still got to try to win the ball back and then break. I don’t want to be that deep, but we ended up that deep. You got to see that game through. We’ve got to be man enough to see that game through, and we didn’t.”

On positives from that performance

“We scored two goals. I guess that’s a positive. When you lose it’s sickening. It’s very difficult to take. First half, Sean made some good saves and we played pretty well. Then a crazy 15-20 minute spell, we give the game to them, which is really disappointing.”

Jeff Larentowicz, Chicago Fire midfielder and captain

On what changed from the first half to the second half:

“We stopped doing things in the second half that we did well in the first – we conceded ground, allowed them to play in our end, didn’t connect passes once we had it, and if you do that against a good team they are going to beat you.”

On how RSL was able to do that:

“They crowd the ball, they get a lot of numbers, and they’re good at finding ways to keep possession. They make you work defensively, so once you get it you’re tired and they wear you down. I don’t think it was a conscious thing where we said ‘alright let’s hunker down,’ we just have to defend and defend properly.”

On how to move forward:

“This is a mental test for us. All the positives we’ve been putting on things, we can’t do it any longer. It’s been weeks and tonight it’s a loss, it’s not a game where can say we played a complete game and didn’t get the points, we didn’t. We have to look at the mistakes we made and move on. Like I said, it’s a mental challenge; we can’t go in the negative direction. The guys have to keep a positive attitude, guys have to honestly assess what they are doing personally to a man, go home and figure out how they are going to work harder and push themselves to have a positive attitude and push on. At this point it’s difficult – you can go one of two directions and we have to push forward and have to expect that we can learn from our mistakes and move on.”

Sean Johnson, Chicago Fire goalkeeper

On the result:

“I think it’s obvious that it doesn’t feel great, after we were up 2-0 and losing at home. I can’t really describe the emotions right now; it’s a difficult one to swallow at home, being up. We can’t make excuses for it though. We were not good enough.”

On the shift in the game:

“We have to search for answers. I don’t know what happened, we were up 2-0 on cruise control, the game was in our hands and they scored one, they scored two, get the momentum and before you know it they won the game.”

On what’s next for the team:

“This was definitely a test for us. We’ve got to look at ourselves, there’s no one for us to blame. We’ve got to look at ourselves in the locker room and come up with a solution. We keep digging a hole for ourselves, there’s no reason at this point in the season we should be where we are - we should be close to the top of the table. We’ve had games in hand; off the top of my head we’ve had four games now that I feel like we should have gotten a win. Scratch the ties, we’ve taken a step back now with the loss. We’ve got to get back to training. We can’t get down; we can’t let something like this affect the mood of the team. We have to keep chugging along; we have a handful of games left, so we have to dig in.”

On the difficulty of staying positive during the winless streak:

“This is our job, professionally, game in and game out we have to have the same attitude and find a way to win games, plain and simple. We’ve been through everything tactically, physically and mentally I think now we have to find what it takes to win these games.”

On the coach’s reaction to the loss:

“Obviously we’re not happy with ourselves and the coaching staff is obviously disappointed with the result – there’s really not much more to say. There’s disappointment all the way around.”

After yet another draw against the Revs last time out, the Fire head into May without a win. The first of four grueling matches this month is against Real Salt Lake at Toyota Park on Saturday evening (7:30pm CT on My50/TWCSC). Both teams enter this game with sour tastes in their mouths after the way their last matches ended and I expect it to be a frantic first 20 minutes or so. Here are some things to look out for from a tactical perspective.

Replacing Quincy – how will coach Yallop adjust to the loss of the team’s top scorer?

Perhaps the most important outcome of the match against New England last time out was the red card and one game suspension for Qunicy Amarikwa, the team’s top goal scorer and most consistent attacking threat this season. Replacing Amarikwa is no easy task, especially because his partnership with Mike Magee was just starting to bloom, but the Fire coaching staff does have plenty of options.

The most obvious and like for like switch would be for Juan Luis Anangono and act as the target striker with Magee playing behind him. Anangono has come off the bench on a consistent basis this season and will be looking to avenge his injury time penalty miss against New England.

A more likely scenario however would be for either Victor Pineda or Benji Joya to start in place of Amarikwa. Both players are comfortable playing in the forward roles and Joya especially would relish a chance to start in his more natural position instead of a wide one where he began the season.

Playing with either Joya or Pineda up front would also allow the Fire to continue to play a target-less striker formation, something that has worked to date this season. That being said, Frank Yallop could also decide to start Joya or Pineda in one of the wide positions in an attempt to combat RSL’s midfield diamond, as I will explain below.

Don’t be too distracted by the obvious – Plata and Saborio are the clear danger men but Luke Mulholland makes RSL tick

Many will argue RSL’s unbeaten start to the season is down to players like Joao Plata, Alvaro Saborio or Javier Morales making the difference but the player who has had possibility the biggest impact this season is Englishman Luke Mulholland.

Mulholland plays on the outside of RSL’s compact midfield diamond, with Ned Grabavoy operating on the other side. In attack, Mulholland can provide balls into the area from a wide position but he also excels at making late runs into the box where he often finds space due to defenders concentrating on RSL’s more known attacking threats.

Defensively, Mulholland provides cover for his full back and does not get caught up the field often in transition. The Englishmen has chipped in with two goals and one assist in four starts this season and acts as the youthful spark in a midfield containing veterans such as Kyle Beckerman and Javier Morales.

Mulholland is also very versatile, with he and Grabavoy able to operate comfortably on either side of the diamond. To combat this, I could see the Fire drafting Matt Watson or Logan Pause in to pack the midfield, especially against RSL’s narrow formation. Watson or Pause could play alongside anchor Jeff Larentowicz or a bit higher up, perhaps alongside Harry Shipp or Alex in a 4-1-4-1 formation.

In last week’s match against Vancouver, RSL overran the Whitecaps midfield for much of the first half. Putting an extra body in the middle on Saturday night would ensure the same thing doesn’t happen to the Men in Red.

Exposing RSL on the flanks – proving an attacking threat from both wings

Since the return of Patrick Nyarko to the starting eleven, the Ghanaian has been a one-man wrecking crew down the right hand side for the Fire. Nyarko has also combined well with right back Lovel Palmer in attack – something we saw work in the Fire’s favor against New England two weeks ago.

Due to RSL’s narrow formation, they can be exploited on the wings, where the full backs are sometimes left isolated. Nyarko and Palmer should thrive against this type of formation but for the Fire to take full advantage, the team needs to also have a consistent attacking threat from the left.

As mentioned in previous previews, left back Greg Cochrane has excelled in the absence of Gonzalo Segares and is always looking to get forward to support the attack.

In recent matches, Harry Shipp has drifted inside from his wide left position to great effect but against RSL, whoever occupies the wide left position must try to take advantage of their narrow midfield by attacking from wide. With the center of the park sure to be busy, if the Fire focus their attack in the wide areas, it could result in the team picking up its first win of the season.

Prediction: It was a long time coming, but the Fire finally pick up three points – 2-1 Fire with goals from Mike Magee and Patrick Nyarko.

Stephen Piggott is a contributor to Chicago-Fire.com. Follow him on Twitter @Irish_Steve.

If I can be bold enough to say, every time the Fire have come up in a coin flip, I honestly get this strange excitement in my stomach. The feeling of a simple coin going a long way to deciding your team's tournament fate is a thrilling, if not brief emotion.

Luckily for the Fire, the first coin flip landed tails, meaning the winner of next Wednesday's game vs. Orlando City will host the winnder of D.C. United/New England on August 7. This is the third straight flip the Fire have won after losing the initial third round flip to the Charlotte Eagles.

In the second flip, the coin came up heads, meaning the winner of Real Salt Lake/Carolina RailHawks will host the winner of Portland/FC Dallas. The flip was the fourth consecutive win for RSL in the 2013 U.S. Open Cup.

And that was it.

Only one coin flip remains and that's for the final which will be played in early October. I'm told that will go down at some point in July.

All intentions to host the final were due along with intentions for the semifinal on Wednesday, though U.S. Soccer will likely not make that list public until the final coin flips occur.

I can confirm the Chicago Fire have applied to host the 2013 U.S. Open Cup final.

“People are coming out of the woodwork. I moved away when I was 15 and I haven’t moved back since. I got a lot of family here, I’ve kept in touch with all my friends so its good to be back to say the least.”

Realizing the trade was a possibility…

“It’s been on my mind pretty much since I left. I tried to get back [here] a couple times in the past and then I think throughout the process with Robbie Rogers, that whole saga with him trying to get to LA, it crept in my mind that somebody had to go to Chicago and I raised my hand.”

On if he thought he would be the player traded…

“No, I didn’t [think it would be me]. I have to thank the Galaxy. I had a good talk with Bruce, mentioned I’m from here and that it was long past due that I get home. The Galaxy were great in facilitating that.”

On if he expects to play this weekend…

“I hope to play on Wednesday. I haven’t spoken to them about what the plans are but they brought me here to play.”

On if the Fire can still make the playoffs…

“Of course. We’re trying to catch Philly who I believe is 10 points ahead of us and we have two games in hand. We have to start getting some points. It’s still a very young season. Even watching the guys, they played well and things aren’t going their way. Little finishes and they’re getting punished for all their mistakes and sometimes that’s how it goes. We’ll get it right.”

On how much he’s watched the team recently…

“Not as much as I’d like to. Obviously I watched the game in Salt Lake and I’ve seen them here and there but I need to catch up quick.”

On if he’s talked to Frank Klopas about his role…

“No we had a general conversation. We were more talking about Chicago things but he knows I like to play forward and midfield. I’m the kind of guy that just wants to be on the field.”

On which spot he prefers playing more…

“It really doesn’t matter to be honest.”

On if he feels pressure coming into a team that hasn’t scored a lot this season…

“I put enough pressure on myself just to perform anyways. It’s obviously added pressure when you’re on the outside of the playoffs looking in. Instantly when the trade became official I felt that pressure but there’s no added pressure to score goals and do anything different than what I’ve done. The main focus is to starting getting points, starting catching Philly.”

On the first time he walked in the Fire locker room…

“It was the first time I was nervous in a while. Obviously there’s awkward conversations and kind of meeting some guys, catching up with some old guys. I haven’t had that feeling since I went to LA.

“Everything was great. It was more than I expected and there were a lot more faces I knew than I thought I would. They have a great environment here but unfortunately the points aren’t showing it.”

On how many guys he knew before coming to the Fire…

“I’ve known Rolfie and Logan [Pause] for a while. [Mike] Matkovich – I’ve known him since I was young. I played for the Sockers and he was a Magic guy so I hated him then. Not so much now.

“I’ve known Frank as well since I was a Fire fan. As cliché as that is, Frank’s a guy I’ve always loved as a player and we’ve kept in touch. Maicon [Santos] from his Chivas days, Wells [Thompson] from us being in the league forever. There’s just a bunch of good guys to be honest.”

On translating his MLS Cup winning experience to the Fire…

“I hope so. It’s weird coming in. I have to cut the cord with LA and try not to mention anything about that. Nobody wants to hear me talk about any of that stuff. Obviously there are certain things that we had there and I’ll try to implement some of those things. I played with some pretty cool players in LA so hopefully I’ll try to take some of the things I learned from them and teach some of the young guys here. They have good leadership here. Larentowicz and Logan are two good guys – good locker room guys.”

Chicago Fire head coach Frank Klopas

On if last week’s two trades signal a restart of the season…

I just think there’s opportunities to bring quality players in who with any team, you start the season and obviously you look at situations you have to address. [Bakary Soumare and Mike Magee] are two quality players, I think those are two quality players. They’ll make our team better and add more depth to the squad. There are a lot of games left to play. There was a need in the back with our injury situation so getting a guy like Baky with his experience, I feel he’s missed a lot over the year but every game that he plays once he gets back to his form and fitness level. You saw it the other day and he’s not at the level he should be [yet].

Mike obviously you know his experience but he’s just a quality player. Plus this is a guy from Chicago, here. The pride that he has with the team and what it means for him to be back. I think that’s important – bringing two quality guys that have ties, with Baky starting his career here and Mike being from here, I think that’s important.

On if Mike Magee will play in Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup match at Charlotte…

“I think you get him around the goal, that’s where he’s played. Depending on the need, you can move him around but I think around the goal, with his ability to combine and finish plays is quality. I think its important to get him closer to the goal but obviously things can change depending on what happens or the circumstances with injuries because he can play out wide also or in the midfield.”

On taking momentum from Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Real Salt Lake into Tuesday’s U.S. Open Cup match at Charlotte.

“It’s one game but it’s something to build on. Cup games – you look around the world, you can’t underestimate them. They’re difficult matches if you approach them in the wrong way. We need to be very focused and serious and it’s a tournament that we enter because we want to win. I think there are four banners up there that show the success the club has had and we want to do everything that we possibly can to try to put ourselves in a position to win. We start Wednesday and we need to be very focused and not underestimate anyone. You see upsets all over the world with games like this. The guys understand that, they’re focused and ready and we’re going to put out the best squad to give us a chance to win.”

On if Mike Magee’s MLS Cup championship experience is something that can translate in Chicago…

“For sure. With his experience and also being in games like that. He’s been around different teams and played with a lot of great players that he’s benefited from but also they’ve benefited from him. You can put some guys to play next to Messi but you have to have some quality too. For sure that experience will help but he’s just a quality player. He’s easy to play with but also makes everyone around him better and he’s from Chicago.”

On if Soumare and Magee’s ties to Chicago will help with the transition process…

“Í think that helps a lot but also these are guys within the league. They know the league well but also they feel at home here. Baky started here, Mike grew up here, his family is here and Baky has a lot of people here he calls family. I think that’s important but more than anything they’re guys that really care about the club.

"There’s a deep meaning to these guys and there’s a pride when they put the jersey on. You have to care, it’s gotta be something that hurts inside when you don’t do well. It might not be the same for any other club but for us, that’s what it means here. When we walk around, we have a lot of passion for the team, the city and soccer here in this town. For me and my staff and guys like Baky and Mike and the rest of the team, that’s how we feel. You gotta care, you gotta be honored to put that jersey on and that’s what it means to these guys.”

“That it’s a good result. You get a point over here, it’s not an easy place to play. Obviously, you know, we wanted to be better with the ball in possession with a team that kind of controls the game. You know, we gave up a lot of possession, thus we had to chase a lot of the game. But I thought our guys, even going down one goal, showed a lot of heart and character. Again, the point here was something to build on.”

If this will change the situation for the Fire

“Well, we hope so. It’s one game. We’ll take it a game at a time. But, you know, any time you can pick up points on the road – especially in this place here, it’s a very good team – It’s something to build on, it’s positive. We have a long way to go, it’s a long season. But for us right now, it’s one game at a time and continue to keep working. My team showed a lot of character.”

If injuries were the difference

“No, it’s ok. The guys have been good, you know. I mean, they didn’t give up when Saborio came in and scored a great goal and that’s going to happen. I thought Sean made some great saves and guys gave everything on the field. We had some chances, but like I said, it’s not an easy place to play and obviously getting a point, we’ll take that and look to build on this.”

On Sean Johnson’s performance tonight

“Yeah, you need that. When you’re on the road, you know, you obviously need to defend well as a team and need your goalkeeper to step up big, which Sean did and when you get your chances, you know, put them away. I thought we had some not good looks, but we got in good spots and some final pass execution, this or that, we weren’t as clear in the final third or as good in the final third. But we found a way to come back and, obviously, a big key to that was Sean. With the saves that he made and with that team working extremely hard, especially when we didn’t have as much possession in the game. Like I said, it’s something to build on, it’s a difficult place to play. It’s a really good team.”

On making adjustments after the Saborio goal

“We had to push the game. We took out Logan, who’s a little bit more defensive minded, we put another forward out, we dropped Alex, who we thought would give us a lot more in the final third so we had to push the game at that point.

On snapping the scoreless streak

“No, it’s a point. It’s difficult, you know, when you don’t score goals in six games to get a positive result. The good thing is that in those matches we created opportunities. We just got to concentrate and our focus has got to be better in the final third. I think any time you can score, I think again, even tonight coming from behind shows a lot of character. That it’s good if you can take leads early on, takes a lot of pressure from the team. But being able to score and get a point here, like I said, in a difficult place against a very good team is something to build on for us.”

On the Fire’s two new players

“Yes, one played tonight and Baky’s [Soumare] an excellent player and I think he just needs time. He had a minor injury that kept him away for a long time and now he’s getting in a little bit of a rhythm playing. I think the more games he gets under the better he’s going to get, but he brings a lot of quality to us. Same as Mike Magee, a kid from Chicago, he’s done extremely well. He’s a quality player, someone that’s going to add to more quality in the final third for us.”

Joel Lindpere, Chicago Fire Midfielder

On the team’s performance

“I think we pulled it out and it was a team effort, so I think we continued to battle. They come home to play and I haven’t tied or won here in my career so always when I come here it is very tough with the altitude and they play very good here at home so for me they are one of the strongest home teams in the league. We were down 1-0 and I think today the subs helped us out. We have many games and we always use three subs and we pull out starters and bring fresh guys in. I think today they really helped us. It shows that we really are one team and we fight in very tough situations, as we are in now. We are capable of earning three points and we have to start somewhere. Everybody hopes that this is the start where we can move up so we are going to keep going and concentrate on D.C. United who has also been in a very difficult situation, so it’s going to be an interesting game for both teams.”

Jeff Larentowicz, Chicago Fire Midfielder

On the team’s performance and what the result means for the team

“For us it’s a good result. I think that for any team to come here and get a point is good. They’re a tough team to play at Rio Tinto and we’re a team that’s struggling so for us to get a point on the road is good.”

On the addition of Mike Magee

“You know we’ll see. I’m not sure what the coaches have planned for him but you know when he comes in we’ll welcome him. He has shown he can score goals this year so at the moment we’ll welcome him.”